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“Rika, dear, this is hardly comfortable,” Shiori’s voice echoed from within her pine box. “Not to mention highly unnecessary. If we were under pursuit, we’d know by now.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Rika muffled. “And what safer place is there than a coffin when someone wants you dead? It’s the last place they’d ever look. Admit it; it’s genius.”

“I will say it’s a creative means of body guarding.”

“Just try to relax and get some rest. We should be there in an hour or two.”

“Sleeping within these confines is impossible. And morbid.” Crossing her arms in impatience, Shiori settled into the cushion of her coffin. For the last stint of their journey, Shiori and Rika had parted ways with Kanzo and Kyo as the latter duo made their way back to the capital and Shiori and Rika made their way to the frontline. Though fraught with peril, Shiori had not once questioned her decision to join Hanzō’s camp; at least, not until Rika appeared with their means of conveyance. A hearse was a far cry from the comfortable merchant’s carriage that had brought them south. But Rika did have a point. And her idea was admittedly clever. Besides, after their encounter with Danzō two nights before, Shiori didn’t want Rika to doubt herself or her abilities. Last she saw him, Danzō was a contender for Hokage. And doubtless, over the twenty years of their estrangement, he had only grown stronger. While Rika was formidable, few possessed the requisite skill to counter the Leaf shinobi.

Deciding not to complain further and allow her companion to rest, Shiori turned her thoughts to the current turn in international affairs. Because her party had not paused for rest or news since fleeing the mediation, they had heard precious little surrounding Amegakure’s first strikes. Though Shiori had faith that Hanzō’s first foray into Konohagakure would be a success, the tables could turn at any minute once the Hokage returned to defend the Land of Fire. Though pointless, speculation consumed Shiori’s thoughts until the unassuming hearse reached their final destination: Amegakure-occupied Hiji.

Initially suspecting the hearse had arrived to remove the dead from the battlefield, upon inspection, the Amegakure shinobi were surprised and amused to find their village head’s wife and her body guard buried inside. Helping Shiori from the vehicle, the excited shinobi recounted their exploits as they guided their lady to Hanzō’s counsel’s quarters. Though unable to disentangle their jumbled stories, Shiori was relieved to gather that the first push into Konohagakure had been a resounding success.

Outside Hanzō’s adopted headquarters, Hiji’s former town hall, shinobi buzzed in and out with reports and escorted prisoners. The building’s cramped interior was no less busy as Amegakure shinobi pressed against one another clamoring to report to Hanzō. Unfazed by the commotion, Hanzō stood behind the head desk informing his captains of their next moves. Once his eyes fell upon Shiori, he stopped midsentence. “We’re through here for now. Leave us,” Hanzō ordered his noisy men and counsel to vacate the small room. Bowing swiftly to their lord and lady, the shinobi quickly filtered from the room, closing the door behind them. Once alone, Hanzō rubbed his fatigued temples with an amused grunt. “Shiori, care to explain why you arrived here in a hearse?”

“I’ve been buried in work. And you?” Path now free from human obstruction, Shiori walked into her husband’s firm embrace. Melting against Hanzō’s strong chest, she relaxed to the steady, comforting rhythm of his heart.

“As you see around you, not many of us are buried. I cannot say the same for Konoha.”

“How about the north and west? Hatsu and Kisa?”

“All according to plan. Hatsu has established our stronghold in Iwa,” Hanzō motioned to a map upon the desk. Around the Amegakure and Iwagakure border line, small, purple pebbles had spilt over from the plains into the Land of Earth.

“I’m not surprised, but how did he manage it?” Shiori asked with some wonder. Iwagakure’s formidable stone mountains provided the nation with natural fortification. For centuries, the land had remained unpenetrated.

“He advanced with a small force, luring them out onto the Ame plain. Once Iwa’s forces had been overextended, he called for reinforcements to pinch them off at the border and surrounded them. Iwa was crushed. Afterwards, with no shinobi nearby to protect the border, he seized the cities with ease.”

“How does he intend to keep them once the Tsuchikage returns?”

“He doesn’t. His next move will be to feign defeat and retreat back to Amegakure to engage them again on the plains. In the meantime, he’s trapping just about every object in sight to slow Iwa’s advance once they retake the cities. He’s also arranging for a few surprises on the plains in preparation for Iwa’s return.”

“Trapping the cities? I’ll instruct the maids to be ultra-vigilant when cleaning his apartment,” Shiori grimaced. “It sounds like he’s waging a war of accelerated attrition.”

“We all are. With our forces outnumbered, it’s the only way. We have to bleed the great nations as quickly as possible to cripple them.”

“And how about the west?” Shiori directed her attention to the line of purple pebbles leading into Sunagakure. “What are our friends up to in the desert?”

“Securing wells in the steppes to water our forces and cavalry as they make their way to the capital. But word arrived this morning that the Kazekage would like to broker peace, so further attack may be unnecessary for now.”

“Suna is throwing in the towel already? It would be to their benefit, though. The farthest from Konoha, they stand the most to lose if they try to attack by sweeping through us or Iwa. An alliance would be in their best interest. But would it be in ours? Would you take it?”

“It depends on the conditions. I do not intend to form a permanent alliance with them, but if they help our forces dent Konoha, a temporary truce is worth considering.”

“I agree. How about Kisa? Was there any mention of her in the report?”

“She is fine, and her cavalry is doing well. Suna cannot protect everything, everywhere. But the cavalry can potentially attack anything, anywhere. Suna finds it unnerving.”

“I’m relieved, but sending her to the field still distresses me. At fifteen, she’s still a child.”

“She is my child, and she is more than ready.”

“That she is,” Shiori conceded. “And what about you? Where to after Hiji?”

“We will continue our advance into Konoha,” Hanzō pushed his section of purple pebbles deeper into Konohagakure’s interior. “I aim to take the capital as soon as possible. In the meantime, I’ve deployed two teams to infiltrate the Village Hidden in the Leaf.”

“To engage the Hokage?”

“No. To eliminate the nine tails jinchuuriki,” Hanzō’s brows furrowed. “I won’t let the Leaf resort to using that weapon. Ultimately we will rid the nations of all jinchuuriki to keep those powers out of the wrong hands.”

“Mito Uzumaki,” Shiori frowned, recalling the kindly old redhead. “She is a woman I have always admired greatly. Is there really no other way to keep the jinchuuriki in check?”

“None as effective as this, and we cannot afford to do anything in this war by half measures.” Sensing his wife’s spirt fall at the bleak prognosis, Hanzō cleared the map and folded it aside. He had already forced his wife into treason against her home nation and would only make her feel worse with his plans to crush her childhood idols. “But enough of this. Come with me,” he offered his arm. “I have something to show you.” Dismissing their guards, Hanzō guided Shiori beyond the occupied town center and into a more peaceful district. Residents completely evacuated, the only sounds audible were the songs of birds and the chirping of summer cicada. The couple walked in companionable silence for a ways, appreciating the scene’s serenity. “How is Kyo?” Hanzō asked at last.

Shiori sighed. “Shocked by the turn in events at the mediation, upset that we kept him in the dark, and angry that I shipped him home with Kanzo. When this is all over, we’ll have to make it up to him.”

“We will. When this is over, his training will become my first priority. If all goes according to plan, this war will leave him with a greater legacy to shoulder. This way,” Hanzō tugged, guiding Shiori to the right down a wide, landscaped side street. “I have an early anniversary gift for you.”

Once the end of the lane came into view, Shiori laughed in surprise. “Our wedding temple! You shouldn’t have. So this is why you chose Hiji as your first stop.”

“It’s a town of both tactical and sentimental importance.” Halting suddenly, Hanzō scrutinized the temple through squinted eyes. “This is the right temple, isn’t it?”

“Yes! How could you not know that?” his wife laughed in bewilderment.

“I was paying closer attention to you than to the building.”

“Very smooth,” Shiori patted his forearm rewarding him for his response. “Can we go in?”

“Lead on,” Hanzō encouraged.

Pushing open the heavy, wooden doors with ease, Hanzō ushered his wife inside. Without a room full of wedding guests, the space appeared larger than before. The curtains and wall hangings that decorated the room appeared the same, and judging from the musty smell, had likely not been cleaned in the twenty years of their absence. On the alter, a few flies hovered over a bowl of abandoned, overripe fruit. Shiori didn’t remember the temple to be opulent, but today, it appeared especially dingy. “Hanzō, most women wouldn’t be pleased with a musty old temple as their anniversary gift. But fortunately for you,” she squeezed his arm with a bright smile, “I am not most women.”

“I am very fortunate indeed,” Hanzō stopped them a few feet before the alter steps to look into his wife’s eyes, suddenly serious. “But are you? Was this the life you wanted?”

“It was not the life I expected,” Shiori lowered her head in thought, “but all I ever wanted was a life of purpose. Had I stayed in the Leaf, I doubt I could have lifted a finger without my husband’s permission, let alone draft laws or build orphanages. Marrying you freed me to be who I wanted to be. So yes,” she concluded, “this was the life I wanted. A life that could make a difference. And what’s more, you are more than I could ever have dreamed.” Lifting his hand in both her own, Shiori placed a kiss on the rough skin she’d first touched nearly twenty years ago.

The action flooded Hanzō with even more joy and warmth than it had the first time on their wedding day. “Come to think of it,” Hanzō laughed lowly, “I never thanked you for that last time we were here. Your social graces spared us all an awkward situation.”

“And I never thanked you for standing up to my brother for me afterwards. We’ve made a good team since day one.”

“We have,” he agreed, “but I won’t ask you to stay in Konoha for the sake of supporting me. Once the Hokage returns, things will become even more unpredictable and dangerous.”

“I’ll stay,” she insisted. “And with Rika protecting me, we’ll be out of your way.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Hanzō’s brows furrowed as he recalled the green haired kunoichi’s countless antics. “But I could use you here. Our next push is after nightfall this evening. I would like you to look over the plans since you are more familiar with this part of the country than any of the officers.”

“Then let’s head back now,” Shiori urged, noting the reddening sky out the temple’s single window. “You have a war to wage, and nightfall will be here before we know it.” Casting one last backward glance at the temple as they departed, Shiori whispered a silent prayer of gratitude for a life even better than the one she wanted.

Description

“Rika, dear, this is hardly comfortable,” Shiori’s voice echoed from within her pine box. “Not to mention highly unnecessary. If we were under pursuit, we’d know by now.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Rika muffled. “And what safer place is there than a coffin when someone wants you dead? It’s the last place they’d ever look. Admit it; it’s genius.”

“I will say it’s a creative means of body guarding.”

“Just try to relax and get some rest. We should be there in an hour or two.”

“Sleeping within these confines is impossible. And morbid.” Crossing her arms in impatience, Shiori settled into the cushion of her coffin. For the last stint of their journey, Shiori and Rika had parted ways with Kanzo and Kyo as the latter duo made their way back to the capital and Shiori and Rika made their way to the frontline. Though fraught with peril, Shiori had not once questioned her decision to join Hanzō’s camp; at least, not until Rika appeared with their means of conveyance. A hearse was a far cry from the comfortable merchant’s carriage that had brought them south. But Rika did have a point. And her idea was admittedly clever. Besides, after their encounter with Danzō two nights before, Shiori didn’t want Rika to doubt herself or her abilities. Last she saw him, Danzō was a contender for Hokage. And doubtless, over the twenty years of their estrangement, he had only grown stronger. While Rika was formidable, few possessed the requisite skill to counter the Leaf shinobi.

Deciding not to complain further and allow her companion to rest, Shiori turned her thoughts to the current turn in international affairs. Because her party had not paused for rest or news since fleeing the mediation, they had heard precious little surrounding Amegakure’s first strikes. Though Shiori had faith that Hanzō’s first foray into Konohagakure would be a success, the tables could turn at any minute once the Hokage returned to defend the Land of Fire. Though pointless, speculation consumed Shiori’s thoughts until the unassuming hearse reached their final destination: Amegakure-occupied Hiji.

Initially suspecting the hearse had arrived to remove the dead from the battlefield, upon inspection, the Amegakure shinobi were surprised and amused to find their village head’s wife and her body guard buried inside. Helping Shiori from the vehicle, the excited shinobi recounted their exploits as they guided their lady to Hanzō’s counsel’s quarters. Though unable to disentangle their jumbled stories, Shiori was relieved to gather that the first push into Konohagakure had been a resounding success.

Outside Hanzō’s adopted headquarters, Hiji’s former town hall, shinobi buzzed in and out with reports and escorted prisoners. The building’s cramped interior was no less busy as Amegakure shinobi pressed against one another clamoring to report to Hanzō. Unfazed by the commotion, Hanzō stood behind the head desk informing his captains of their next moves. Once his eyes fell upon Shiori, he stopped midsentence. “We’re through here for now. Leave us,” Hanzō ordered his noisy men and counsel to vacate the small room. Bowing swiftly to their lord and lady, the shinobi quickly filtered from the room, closing the door behind them. Once alone, Hanzō rubbed his fatigued temples with an amused grunt. “Shiori, care to explain why you arrived here in a hearse?”

“I’ve been buried in work. And you?” Path now free from human obstruction, Shiori walked into her husband’s firm embrace. Melting against Hanzō’s strong chest, she relaxed to the steady, comforting rhythm of his heart.

“As you see around you, not many of us are buried. I cannot say the same for Konoha.”

“How about the north and west? Hatsu and Kisa?”

“All according to plan. Hatsu has established our stronghold in Iwa,” Hanzō motioned to a map upon the desk. Around the Amegakure and Iwagakure border line, small, purple pebbles had spilt over from the plains into the Land of Earth.

“I’m not surprised, but how did he manage it?” Shiori asked with some wonder. Iwagakure’s formidable stone mountains provided the nation with natural fortification. For centuries, the land had remained unpenetrated.

“He advanced with a small force, luring them out onto the Ame plain. Once Iwa’s forces had been overextended, he called for reinforcements to pinch them off at the border and surrounded them. Iwa was crushed. Afterwards, with no shinobi nearby to protect the border, he seized the cities with ease.”

“How does he intend to keep them once the Tsuchikage returns?”

“He doesn’t. His next move will be to feign defeat and retreat back to Amegakure to engage them again on the plains. In the meantime, he’s trapping just about every object in sight to slow Iwa’s advance once they retake the cities. He’s also arranging for a few surprises on the plains in preparation for Iwa’s return.”

“Trapping the cities? I’ll instruct the maids to be ultra-vigilant when cleaning his apartment,” Shiori grimaced. “It sounds like he’s waging a war of accelerated attrition.”

“We all are. With our forces outnumbered, it’s the only way. We have to bleed the great nations as quickly as possible to cripple them.”

“And how about the west?” Shiori directed her attention to the line of purple pebbles leading into Sunagakure. “What are our friends up to in the desert?”

“Securing wells in the steppes to water our forces and cavalry as they make their way to the capital. But word arrived this morning that the Kazekage would like to broker peace, so further attack may be unnecessary for now.”

“Suna is throwing in the towel already? It would be to their benefit, though. The farthest from Konoha, they stand the most to lose if they try to attack by sweeping through us or Iwa. An alliance would be in their best interest. But would it be in ours? Would you take it?”

“It depends on the conditions. I do not intend to form a permanent alliance with them, but if they help our forces dent Konoha, a temporary truce is worth considering.”

“I agree. How about Kisa? Was there any mention of her in the report?”

“She is fine, and her cavalry is doing well. Suna cannot protect everything, everywhere. But the cavalry can potentially attack anything, anywhere. Suna finds it unnerving.”

“I’m relieved, but sending her to the field still distresses me. At fifteen, she’s still a child.”

“She is my child, and she is more than ready.”

“That she is,” Shiori conceded. “And what about you? Where to after Hiji?”

“We will continue our advance into Konoha,” Hanzō pushed his section of purple pebbles deeper into Konohagakure’s interior. “I aim to take the capital as soon as possible. In the meantime, I’ve deployed two teams to infiltrate the Village Hidden in the Leaf.”

“To engage the Hokage?”

“No. To eliminate the nine tails jinchuuriki,” Hanzō’s brows furrowed. “I won’t let the Leaf resort to using that weapon. Ultimately we will rid the nations of all jinchuuriki to keep those powers out of the wrong hands.”

“Mito Uzumaki,” Shiori frowned, recalling the kindly old redhead. “She is a woman I have always admired greatly. Is there really no other way to keep the jinchuuriki in check?”

“None as effective as this, and we cannot afford to do anything in this war by half measures.” Sensing his wife’s spirt fall at the bleak prognosis, Hanzō cleared the map and folded it aside. He had already forced his wife into treason against her home nation and would only make her feel worse with his plans to crush her childhood idols. “But enough of this. Come with me,” he offered his arm. “I have something to show you.” Dismissing their guards, Hanzō guided Shiori beyond the occupied town center and into a more peaceful district. Residents completely evacuated, the only sounds audible were the songs of birds and the chirping of summer cicada. The couple walked in companionable silence for a ways, appreciating the scene’s serenity. “How is Kyo?” Hanzō asked at last.

Shiori sighed. “Shocked by the turn in events at the mediation, upset that we kept him in the dark, and angry that I shipped him home with Kanzo. When this is all over, we’ll have to make it up to him.”

“We will. When this is over, his training will become my first priority. If all goes according to plan, this war will leave him with a greater legacy to shoulder. This way,” Hanzō tugged, guiding Shiori to the right down a wide, landscaped side street. “I have an early anniversary gift for you.”

Once the end of the lane came into view, Shiori laughed in surprise. “Our wedding temple! You shouldn’t have. So this is why you chose Hiji as your first stop.”

“It’s a town of both tactical and sentimental importance.” Halting suddenly, Hanzō scrutinized the temple through squinted eyes. “This is the right temple, isn’t it?”

“Yes! How could you not know that?” his wife laughed in bewilderment.

“I was paying closer attention to you than to the building.”

“Very smooth,” Shiori patted his forearm rewarding him for his response. “Can we go in?”

“Lead on,” Hanzō encouraged.

Pushing open the heavy, wooden doors with ease, Hanzō ushered his wife inside. Without a room full of wedding guests, the space appeared larger than before. The curtains and wall hangings that decorated the room appeared the same, and judging from the musty smell, had likely not been cleaned in the twenty years of their absence. On the alter, a few flies hovered over a bowl of abandoned, overripe fruit. Shiori didn’t remember the temple to be opulent, but today, it appeared especially dingy. “Hanzō, most women wouldn’t be pleased with a musty old temple as their anniversary gift. But fortunately for you,” she squeezed his arm with a bright smile, “I am not most women.”

“I am very fortunate indeed,” Hanzō stopped them a few feet before the alter steps to look into his wife’s eyes, suddenly serious. “But are you? Was this the life you wanted?”

“It was not the life I expected,” Shiori lowered her head in thought, “but all I ever wanted was a life of purpose. Had I stayed in the Leaf, I doubt I could have lifted a finger without my husband’s permission, let alone draft laws or build orphanages. Marrying you freed me to be who I wanted to be. So yes,” she concluded, “this was the life I wanted. A life that could make a difference. And what’s more, you are more than I could ever have dreamed.” Lifting his hand in both her own, Shiori placed a kiss on the rough skin she’d first touched nearly twenty years ago.

The action flooded Hanzō with even more joy and warmth than it had the first time on their wedding day. “Come to think of it,” Hanzō laughed lowly, “I never thanked you for that last time we were here. Your social graces spared us all an awkward situation.”

“And I never thanked you for standing up to my brother for me afterwards. We’ve made a good team since day one.”

“We have,” he agreed, “but I won’t ask you to stay in Konoha for the sake of supporting me. Once the Hokage returns, things will become even more unpredictable and dangerous.”

“I’ll stay,” she insisted. “And with Rika protecting me, we’ll be out of your way.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Hanzō’s brows furrowed as he recalled the green haired kunoichi’s countless antics. “But I could use you here. Our next push is after nightfall this evening. I would like you to look over the plans since you are more familiar with this part of the country than any of the officers.”

“Then let’s head back now,” Shiori urged, noting the reddening sky out the temple’s single window. “You have a war to wage, and nightfall will be here before we know it.” Casting one last backward glance at the temple as they departed, Shiori whispered a silent prayer of gratitude for a life even better than the one she wanted.